August 01, 2005

Glassbreaks: Philip Glass vs. Hiphop warning: mp3s

Glass was previously discussed here. For some background on this influential composer, check out this NPR interview [realplayer needed] done by his second cousin Ira Glass (of This American Life fame).

posted by the_bone 19 years ago
  • Seen this some other place but links were down then. Good stuff! I have a friend that will crap his pants at the sacrilegy of the Beasties getting near Glass. Think I will burn him a copy right now...
  • I love this!
  • I wonder if that counter on the page is correct. Under 8,000 visitors? Didn't this get Boing Boinged about a week or two ago? Do people really hate dear ol' Phil that much? Could it be true? Me? I love him. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes crap, but I still own pretty much his whole discography and seen multiple performances. That counter must be broken...it just must be...
  • "I have a friend that will crap his pants at the sacrilegy of the Beasties getting near Glass. I know. I have friends who will be offended at the idea of Glass profaning the Beasties.
  • (this is good)
  • Next up - a John Cage-match? Enjoyed these.
  • I can see it now John Cage vs Brian Eno. Dunwich Beach, Autumn, 1960, 4'33"
  • Knock knock!
  • Who's there?
  • Next up - a John Cage-match? Guards! Seize him!
  • Well that didn't suck nearly as much as I expected. Glass is one of the most consistently dull composers ever to achieve success. Usually, his music "works" only when it 's accompanying something else like a film or in this case the BB's. He lacks melody, craft, imagination, ability to orchestrate and sense of an audience's endurance threshold - in short, many of the minimum characteristics necessary to be a composer of quality. What he does have is an ability to market himself, a "hip" image, a lamprey like ability to attach himself to people that do have talent and a large segment of the music buying public that looks for the latest in designer brand emperor's new clothes. It's telling in the BB examples above that his music so effortlessy combines with their music thereby exemplifying how little substance there is in his own. Thanks for the link and an opportunity to snark against one of my least favorite composers. If minimalist music appeals to you, you would be better off listening to John Adams or Michael Torke, two composers vastly more talented and interesting than PG.
  • Knock knock!
  • Excellent. Cheers, the_bone
  • Who's there?
  • Knock knock!
  • Q who's there? A Wolof Q Wolof who? A Wolof I didn't know better I'd swear this started out as a Philip Glass joke!
  • Knock knock!
  • Actually ,waiting to see how Wolof's knock-knock joke turns out is more interesting than listening to any piece of PG. But not more interesting than the Beastie Boys
  • Eh, I'm on the fence between "Philip Glass sucks" and "much but not all of Philip Glass' music sucks." Cos when you get down to it, he's written so bloody much crap that some of it I'll find interesting. Robert Smigel/TRIUMPH THE INSULT COMIC DOG: Philip Glass, atonal ass You're not immune Write a song with a fucking tune!
  • Who's there?